TrueTissue: Allogeneic Tissue Engineered Knee Replacement

Team: True Tissue

Program:

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Project Description:

Our design day product is True Tissue, an allogenic knee transplant made from tissue engineered cartilage.

Total knee replacements for arthritis often require a surgical procedure that involves drilling metal and plastic parts into the bone to replace the natural cartilage of the knee joint. Although it restores some mobility to the knee, over time, these parts become subject to wear and tear, inflammation, and misalignment, which can lead to further surgeries.

Our product, True Tissue, solves these issues. Sold as two sheets of live tissue-engineered cartilage derived from stem cells which are differentiated into cartilage sheets in a bioreactor. True Tissue is designed to mimic natural knee articular and meniscus cartilage. True Tissue implants would offer full range of motion, even for strenuous activities, such as running and jumping. It is made to last for a lifetime as they integrate with the patient’s body. Installation of knee replacements no longer requires filing down bone and drilling into the femur and tibia. With True Tissue, doctors can cut our product to shape and glue the implant onto the bone directly, decreasing the recovery period substantially decreasing the amount of pain and allowing patients to return to their daily activities sooner.

Team Members

Project Mentors, Sponsors, and Partners

  • David Gracias

Course Faculty

Project Links

Additional Project Information

Project Photo

Project Photo Caption:

On the left are images of the final seeded cartilage scaffolds on the right is what they will look after being cut to shape.

Project Video